Walney Extension offshore wind farm Meeting with the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) Bristol, December 13 th 2011 Malcolm Johnson – Project Development Manager
Summary 1. Introductions 2. Walney Extension offshore wind farm – update by DONG Energy 2.1 Project Overview 2.2 Timeline 2.3 Community & Stakeholders Consultation Progress 2.4 EIA Surveys Progress 2.5 The Next Steps 3. Queries (Sent to the IPC in advance of the meeting) 2
2.1 Walney Extension – Overview Site awarded April 2010 (The Crown Estate) - Total Area: 149 km2 - Capacity: 750MW (indicative) - Turbines range: 3.6, 6, 7, 7.5 MW -Two offshore cable routes being considered, the southerly of which has two options for part of its length. • Grid Connection Agreement (National Grid): - Signed November 2011 - Interface substation: National Grid 400 kV substation in Heysham -Several landfall options being considered. 3
2.2 Indicative Timeline 4
2.3 Section 47 – Community Consultation to date. • SoCC published 19 th July 2011 • Community Consultation Events 2011 (1 st Stage) 9 th September – Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria 10 th September – Egremont, Cumbria 12 th September – Middleton, Lancashire 13 th September – Blackpool, Lancashire 15 th September – Douglas, Isle of Man 26 th October – Millom, Cumbria (additional consultation following feedback from 1st consultation event) • 58 Local Information Points in Barrow-in-Furness, Gosforth, Whitehaven, Preston, Blackpool, Fleetwood, Isle of Man. Contact methods: email, phone, post & website. Numerous ways of receiving feedback 5
Summary of Events & feedback received Didn’t Statement Agreed Disagree or know d or strongly strongly agreed disagree d Climate change is an important issue 86% 5% 9% I support renewable energy 97% 1% 2% Offshore wind should be a significant 68% 11% 21% source of renewable energy I support offshore wind power in east Irish 66% 13% 21% 275 Attendees Sea Walney Offshore Windfarms have had a 25% 38% 37% positive impact on my community Top 3 Concerns discussed; Walney Offshore Windfarms have 14% 42% 44% encouraged visitors to the area Walney Offshore wind farms have created 38% 36% 26% The visual impact on the local jobs and supported local businesses in the area (101) area Today’s event helped me understand the 95% 4% 1% The potential environmental proposed plans for the wind farm impacts in the area (95) All my questions were answered properly 91% 6% 3% 87% 8% 5% I have or know how to get all the The potential impact on information I need different sea users (83) I am easily able to express my views 83% 10% 7% My views will be taken into account as the 43% 42% 15% proposed wind farm project develops I support the Walney Extension offshore 59% 18% 23% wind farm 6
On-going S42 & S47 Consultation • Borough Area Forums – consulting with Local Authorities (LAs) to identify the most appropriate forums). • Planning Performance Agreements – currently in discussions with local authorities regarding resources and whether PPAs may be beneficial. (e.g. Lancaster City Council) • Fisheries Consultation – English, Northern Irish, and Belgium Fisheries associations have been introduced to consultation. • On-going informal stakeholder consultation – until commencement of formal S.42 in June 2012 (indicative) Imminent releases • Mini Consultation Report : Feedback from Community Consultation - December 2011 • Newsletter: Winter Edition (no.1) – December 2011 7
Consultation – Going forward into 2012 Consultation strategy for 2012 will involve: - Regular dialogue with key stakeholders over the coming months when the EIA Surveys' Draft EIA Chapters/Technical Reports are ready, in order to discuss impacts and mitigations; - Publication of PEI with more detailed environmental information (taken from the Draft EIA Chapters/Technical Reports) and highlights of the discussions with key stakeholders, to be distributed to all stakeholders, anticipated in August 2012; - Section 46 Notification and Section 48 Publicity to coincide with PEI publication; - Consultation is expected to end indicatively Q4 2012 . - Community and Stakeholders Consultations to end simultaneously. Stakeholders' feedback is continuously fed into the EIA process for the ultimate ES Submission (along with the DCO application in Q2 2013). 8 8
9 2.4 EIA Surveys (underway and planned) Geophysical Surveys: Completed Ornithological & marine mammal surveys : Monthly ornithological and marine mammals survey are on-going and will continue through to October 2012 Fish Ecology : Completed Benthic & Intertidal Ecology : Benthic (flora and fauna found at the bottom of the sea) survey of the wind farm, export cable routes and landfall sites are in progress (currently delayed due to bad weather) Shipping Surveys & Navigation Risk Assessment: The first 14-day summer Automatic Identification System shipping survey to record the shipping movements across the proposed site has been completed, the results analysed and were discussed at the Navigational Hazard Workshop on 7th December. Ecological surveys of the proposed onshore cable corridors and proposed substation locations have started. As well as these surveys impact assessments of coastal processes , potential visual impact , marine archaeology , nature conservation , impacts on radar/aviation and other human environment impact studies have already started. The remaining environmental studies will begin early 2012 All dates are indicative
2.5 The Next Steps - Onshore Currently analysing community feedback we have received on cable routes and substation locations in parallel to onshore Environmental Impact Assessment. As the 2 nd round of consultation approaches in 2012 the areas will be narrowed down along and the justification explained. Approximately 9% of the substation search area indicated will ultimately be required.
2.5 The Next Steps - Offshore It is looking increasingly likely that an area of the site will remain undeveloped due to Oil & Gas developments. The image on the right is one example of an early layout option in which a central area remains undeveloped due to hydrocarbon developments and the associated exclusion zones, pipeline corridors, helicopter approach/departure zones and vessel/jack-up access. 11
3.0 Questions for the IPC (sent in advance of the meeting) 3.1 Local Impact Reports (LIR) - Is it mandatory that authorities submit a LIR? - Will both A and B authorities be asked to submit LIR? - What happens if one or more authorities does not submit a LIR or if they are late submitting a LIR? - Will the DCO examination process continue or will it stop the clock until it is submitted? 3.2 Transboundary effects - Does the IPC have any experience on consenting projects which involve countries not captured by the current transboundary guidance. I.e. outside the EEA? - Transboundary Screening Note (a general discussion, not a question sent in advance) 3.3 Cumulative and in combination impact assessment (CIA) - Does IPC have the intention to publish a guideline for cumulative and in combination effects? - Can the IPC advice on criteria ’ s (i.e. project stage) to assess what other projects to include in the CIA 12
Project Team & Contact Details Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm Malcolm Johnson – Project Manager malcj@dongenergy.co.uk Trine Hoffman Sorensen – Consents Manager trihs@dongenergy.dk Daniel Haswell – Project Development Assistant dahas@dongenergy.co.uk DONG Energy Power (UK) Ltd. 33 Grosvenor Place Belgravia London SW1X 7HY Web: www.walneyextension.co.uk E-mail: walneyextension@dongenergy.co.uk
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